Tuesday, May 13, 2008

On the surface the News reports read like any other Immigration Raid. As Drudge reported: "Federal officials say a raid at a northeastern Iowa meat processing plant this week was the largest in US History. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say 390 people have been arrested on immigration charges after Monday's raid at Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville. The facility is the world's largest kosher meatpacking plant. The raid was aimed at seeking evidence of identity theft, stolen Social Security numbers and people who are in the country illegally. Fifty-six of those arrested have been released on humanitarian grounds; many of them have to take care of children. Others arrested in the raid at are being held in county jails and at a converted fairgrounds." But peel back the onion and a tale of one of the most heinous employers in US History is revealed. Yet, of all the arrests, no arrests were conducted in the Employer ranks. Let´s investigate:. In 1987, Rabbi Aaron Rubashkin purchased an unused meat-rendering plant in Postville and turned it into a state-of-the-art facility for producing Glatt kosher meat. Today, AgriProcessors provides 60 percent of the kosher retail meat and 40 percent of the kosher poultry nationally, and most retail chains depend on it for supply. The company was also the sole American packing plant whose products are accepted in Israel. . Rubashkin Family Members are Large Republican Campaign Contributors. . The Rubashkins belong to a Hasidic Jewish community called the Lubavitchers, who scrupulously follow the Torah. When the plant initially opened, a few hundred Hasim moved to Postville to help manage and operate the facility. Meanwhile, Postville´s population of 1,300 Lutherans had a mixed relationship with the Hasidim. In 2000, author Bloom detailed the struggles between the Lutherans and the Hassidic Jewish population in a book, "Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America." Throughout the book, Bloom describes the power struggles between the two groups and how both groups remained separate. . Since 2004, the company has twice been sanctioned by PETA for animal abuses.According to the Des Moines Register:. Hiring of Illegal Immigrants: 700 complaints of illegal immigration violations. ICE agents interviewed a former plant supervisor – identified as “Source 1” – in November 2007, who told them that the plant employed foreign nationals from Mexico, Guatemala and Eastern Europe. Roughly 80 percent of those workers were living illegally in the U.S., the supervisor said. . A plant employee identified as “Source 11” told authorities that he/she was hired without presenting employment documents or filling out any forms. The worker’s first paycheck had a different person’s name on it, which was then cashed at another part of the plant. . An Iowa Department of Transportation investigator learned from talking with Des Moines County Treasurer's Office personnel that Source #14 was involved in making applications to title and register cars on behalf of people living in Postville. The source said that, more than 200 times, he or she received application information and money and had the registrations and titles sent to various Burlington/West Burlington addresses. Source #14 then arranged to pick up the documents and sent them to the vehicle owners in Postville. . The supervisors also described an encounter with the plant’s human resources manager about three separate Social Security cards from different employees with the same number. The human resources manager "laughed when this matter was brought to her attention," the supervisor told federal agents. . Agriprocessors was notified of more than 1,000 discrepancies between names and Social Security numbers on workers' W-2 forms sent to the IRS between 2002 and 2005. . “Source 1” told federal agents that some employees were running a methamphetamine lab in the plant, and were bringing weapons to work. The supervisor confronted a higher-level manager about the drugs, and shortly after was fired. . three-fourths of the company's workers at the end of last year were using fraudulent Social Security numbers.. Employee Abuse: a supervisor covered the eyes of an employee with duct tape and struck him with a meat hook.. undocumented workers were paid $5 an hour for their first few months before receiving a pay increase to $6 per hour. The minimum wage in Iowa is $7.25 an hour.--ICE RAID: Monday, May 12, 2008Officials say 314 men and 76 women were initially taken into custody by ICE agents. Of that number, 56 have been released on humanitarian grounds, typically because their arrest would leave a child with no custodian. Those arrested are being held in county jails and at a fairgrounds. -- So now we get to WHY the Raids: . RUBASHKIN TARGET OF ONGOING STATE & FEDERAL LABOR PROBE – Rubashkin Alleged to Employ Underage Illegal Workers Paid Under the Table, Fake OSHA Report . The Des Moines Register is reporting United Food and Commercial Workers Union leadership asked ICE not to raid Agriprocessors.Why? Because there is an ongoing Iowa and federal labor law violations investigation of Agriprocessors and the union fears Rubashkin will use the raid to intimidate workers and throw the next unionization vote. Mark Lauritsen, International Vice President of the United Food and Commercial Workers, wrote a May 2 letter to ICE: ICE action could result in employees leaving the plant, interfering with a government investigation that would “ultimately uncover unscrupulous employer acts,” he said.IN OTHER WORDS, THE ICE RAID IS PROTECTING THE EMPLOYER FROM FURTHER LEGAL ACTIONS AGAINST THEM!Update: Tuesday, May 13, 2008RUBASHKIN OPEN FOR BUSINESS AS USUALThe slaughter line is operating this morning at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa. The I.C.E. raid, carried out yesterday in conjunction with 14 other federal and state agencies, only stopped production yesterday.

43 comments:

Postville, IA - A top official at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville that was the subject of an immigration enforcement action Monday is an active Republican campaign contributor, records show.

Sholom Rubashkin, whose family owns the company, since 2000 has made $23,750 in federal campaign contributions, according to Federal Election Commission records.Advertisement

That includes $5,750 to the Republican Party of Iowa from 2002 through 2004.

Rubashkin also gave $2,000 to Rep. Tom Latham, an Ames Republican, in 2004; $1,500 to candidate William Dix in 2006; $3,000 to candidate Stan Thompson from 2001 through 2004; $2,000 to Sen. Charles Grassley of New Hartford in 2004; and $2,500 to former Rep. Jim Nussle in 2000 and 2002.

Grassley collected another $2,000 each from Abraham Rubashkin, Leah Rubashkin and Ryfka Rubashkin, all of Postville, in August 2004.

warrant. — Source #7, a legal Hispanic immigrant, was paid by ICE to look for a job at the plant early this year while pretending to be an illegal immigrant. All of the source's conversations with human resources staff, supervisors and other employees were recorded during the employment process. The first time the source was told that the Social Security number ICE provided for him or her to use did not match his or her name. The next week, the source was provided a different Social Security number to use with the same name and was hired. Source #7 discovered other employees were being paid in cash or with different colored checks than the ones he or she received, possibly by an elementary school worker in Postville identified as the point of contact on letters to Agriprocessors employees noting "misunderstandings" with the employees' Social Security numbers. The source's rent also kept being increased by his or her landlord, and was told by other Hispanics that happened to other workers, as well.. In February, Source #7 told ICE agents he or she observed a Jewish floor supervisor duct-tape the eyes of an undocumented Guatemalan worker shut and hit the Guatemalan with a meat hook, apparently not causing serious injuries. The Guatemalan did not want to report the incident because "it would not do any good and could jeopardize his job." The company fired illegal immigrants on occasion with no explanation.

— On May 4, 2006, sources #8, #9 and #10 were arrested in connection with an investigation of the production of a potential explosive device found in a vehicle registered to a resident of Postville. The materials likely came from the Agriprocessors mechanical shop. Two sources had obtained employment there with fraudulent documents they had purchased, and all were illegal immigrants.

— An Iowa Department of Transportation investigator learned from talking with Des Moines County Treasurer's Office personnel that Source #14 was involved in making applications to title and register cars on behalf of people living in Postville. The source said that, more than 200 times, he or she received application information and money and had the registrations and titles sent to various Burlington/West Burlington addresses. Source #14 then arranged to pick up the documents and sent them to the vehicle owners in Postville.

— Agriprocessors was notified of more than 1,000 discrepancies between names and Social Security numbers on workers' W-2 forms sent to the IRS between 2002 and 2005.

— In 2005, the Iowa DOT audited a Cedar Rapids car dealership that was selling a number of vehicles to an Agriprocessors supervisor. The manager of the unnamed dealership said the supervisor was a "personal friend of theirs," and that they supplied a large volume of cars to the supervisor for resale to people in the Postville area. That year, more than 50 vehicles were sold in that manner. Sales to Postville residents appeared to represent about 90 percent of the dealership's business. The sales violated Iowa law, which requires all dealers to be licensed.

Employees said that supervisor coerced them and others into to buy vehicles from him or they would be fired or not promoted.

When you go back in history, we see that Iowa was somewhat bankrupt in the 1980s. Unscrupulous employers like Rubashkin came to Iowa and was handed millions in Tax write offs. They kept secluded in their work communities and brought in hundreds of illegal immigrants from war torn countries like Guatemala so they could underpay and exploit the workers. How many times over has this happened.

How many employers will be imprisoned? Was Swift imprisoned? No. Was Pilgrims Pride? Wil Agriprocessors? Probably Not!!

And now you know why we face our current Immigration issues. And the only ones going to the heinous Detention Centers are the Exploited Workers. In the meantime, the lines are running at Agripocessors.

The 314 men arrested and detained at the National Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo are expected to be processed by Wednesday night and moved to other locations. The women are being held at the Hardin County Jail until further notice.

Of the 390 arrested so far, 290 are Guatemalan, 93 are Mexican, three are Israeli and four are from the Ukraine, Rocha said.

Two injuries were reported last night at the detention center in Waterloo, Arnold said. One involved a man who ran from agents and injured his leg. The man was treated at a hospital and taken back to Estel Hall.

Also shameful is that the illegal aliens went along for the ride and came here illegally, knowing full well that they were breaking our immigration laws. I doubt that they were dragged here kicking and screaming.

Could you ditch the word "heinous" it is getting very old and tiresome. Come up with a new vocabulary, ok?

It doesn't matter if these illegal workers were solicited or not. They knew when they came here they were violating our immgration laws and I don't care what their circumstances were. Quit blaming only the employers. They are both to blame.

This incident is exactly why we need the SAVE ACT to pass so that the e-verify system can be mandated and the employers will no longer be able to hire illegal aliens. You b@tch about the employers and yet you are opposed to legislation that will stop them! You speak out of both sides of your mouth, dee.

I don't know why the employer wasn't arrested but I am sure we will hear more about it in the coming days. I noted that there were several cases of fraudulent documents and SS numbers being used. Without e-verify, it is easy to fool an employer. You say that their HR person laughed when being told this. They probably laughed because they had been hoodwinked so easily.

By the way, where did it say that the employer openly solicited these employees? And just because a company makes contributions to a political party is not proof that they were on the take.

2. Then, in support of this statement, you talk about the Jewish aspect of the company. You even reference an article about how the Jews are in conflict with the local ethnic Americans. (Pot calling the kettle black, as it were, but never mind.)

This is the sort of antisemitism one sees on white nationalist sites, Dee.

Hran,Chuckle as you will. The issue is, this is an unscrupulous employer. I am not indicting an entire group over the acts of one person or one company. That is what YOUR side does. I dont indict you because you resemble BTK. The sins of one are the accountability of the ONE, not of the many!

And worst of all, ALL of these Guatemalans will be sent to Detention Centers. They will be kept there until their court date. Which may be months away. Then, even after their court date, they have to wait until the courts deem their sufficient people to warrant a economically efficient group to repatriate. And, since Guatemala is a war torn nation, filled with internal strife, plus recently suffered from hurrican disaster, they may have no where to return to or may be in danger and cannot return. What has happened in the past with anyone who asks for sanctuary, they remain in captivity until their cases are ultimately reviewed and even then, if not approved, they stay incarcerated.

I mentioned on a previous thread the book you referred to about the Hasidic jews and how they REFUSED to even be friendly to the locals.

It is no secret that many republicans want illegals here because of the pressure they get from businesses for illegal, cheap labor. THIS MUST BE STOPPED AND STOPPED RIGHT NOW! I am glad this is all exposed and I hope they throw the book at the company and all of their head honchos and anybody else who was involved in this criminal activity. Also, I'd note that the democrats want illegal immigrants for their vote...they are no better than the republicans. Neither party has the best interests of the citizens of the United States in mind or even the best interests of the illegal immigrants. You're right, Dee, it is SHAMEFUL !!!

I am so angry about this. This employer is a real bad guy! I think he was in cohoots with ICE because the workers were about to become part of a Union and the Union was going to expose all of the company´s abuses. This company is the primary seller of beef to the Jewish community in our country, plus in Israel. They have very close ties to the GOP.

The worst thing about this company is its record of bringing in illegal immigrants from Guatemala, just so they can exploit them! These folks are easy to control because they are so afraid of going back. They are underpaid, overworked and abused. This same thing happened in New York.

The company gets off scot free and is allowed to continue to stay in business. This is so deplorable. Now all those Guatemalens are going to a detention center for who knows how long. This is devastating to all concerned except the employers!!

As I said in a prior post dee, the employer is under investigation. No where in the articles that you posted does is state that he positively recruited illegal aliens to work there. I would hate to be charged with a crime and have you sitting on the jury. You would have me convicted before my case was even heard.

You are full of crap also dee accusing us anti's of indicted an entire ethnic group of the same wrongdoing. Lies don't help your side at all but you pro's keep doing it anyway.

As long as you keep objecting to the Save Act which will stop the employers from hiring and exploiting illegal alien, you have no credibility at all and no reason to complain!!!!

I don't think this company will get off free of anything. ICE confiscated all their computers and files plus they planted informants in the plant. According to the reports, they appear guilty as hell, but in this country everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Even the worst kind of murderers. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. There is so much press on this I cannot imagine anyone is simply going to turn a blind eye to this.

Also Pat, are you THAT dense that you don't know why ANYONE would be upset at the heinous acts of the employers exploiting the workers and using tactics of slaughtering these animals, did you even click on the "SANCTIONED BY PEDA" link in the article, click on it and tell me that there's nothing wrong going on here.

I'm proud of Dee for bringing this to our attemtion, companies like these deserve no less than the same treatment as in those videos of the animal slaughtering

In this "multicultural" society of ours, all kinds of weird things are sanctioned in the name of religion or culture that are not "customary" to this country or even within our laws ...dog and cock fighting, animal slaughter, polygamy. It's the downside of a multicultural society. I even saw a housing development condo place advertising a communal animal slaughter pit as one of the amenities.

And, as far as OJ, he went before a jury. They knew he was guilty, but let him off anyhow because of his race. Wrong Wrong Wrong but what ya gonna do about it?

Dianne, This corrupt employer has been laughing at the law since the 2000 book. Then the 2004 Peta Sanctions. They have sought out, hired and provided false documentation to Guatemalan illegal immigrants. These immigrants are the MOST fragile and easily exploitable. That is what makes their crimes so heinous!!They are LONG TIME GOP contributors and I doubt any of their owners receive 1 day of jail time or any amount of penalty.

THIS IS WHY WE HAVE OUR IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS!! DUE TO THESE UNSCRUPULOUS EMPLOYERS AND THEIR KINSHIP WITH THE GOP!! YET NO ONE LISTENS!!!!!!THEIR LINE WAS RUNNING, BAU, THE VERY NEXT DAY!

Dee, I say go after the corrupt employer, blow the whole thing wide open. Expose all corruption including the employer, employees, whoever. Who was cooking meth at the plant? Nail em. Who was abusing the employees? Nail em. Who was importing illegal immigrants? Nail em. I say the more exposure the better and maybe, just maybe something will finally be done about this corruption.

Who is the employer? The Company President? The Company Vice President? The Human Resources Department? Who exactly is it that hired and imported these people?

So far, the only evidence is that the floor supervisors are the ones that have done "unspeakable things" to the "Illegal Workers". The only other evidence is to the Human Resources Department for "laughing" when brought to her attention, 3 workers with the same SS Number.

What evidence is there that the Company owners knew what was going on? GOP contributions don't mean much. I'm betting this goes no further than the Human Resources Department.

Dee said:"The worst thing about this company is its record of bringing in illegal immigrants from Guatemala, just so they can exploit them!"

Where is your documentation to substantiate this claim? What if the "Guatemalan Illegal Immigrants" were already here in the states and got hired on their due to their own connections? Look to the Human Resources Department, the person in that office that hired them. One gets a job, tells a friend, he gets a job, and so on and so on.

You are reading into the actual stated facts and adding some of your own to enforce your opinion.

Dee says:"They kept secluded in their work communities and brought in hundreds of illegal immigrants from war torn countries like Guatemala so they could underpay and exploit the workers."

Please point out were the information is that states they went to Guatemala and "brought" these workers from their. I have yet to find that information anywhere other than in your own statements. Using your "TRIGGER WORDS" again? How about Semantics? Try arguing with just the information, not the incorrect, made up version you are using.

liquid, you know and I know that dee does this all the time. She uses her trigger words such as "heinous" all the time to be melodramatic and to exaggerate. She posts articles and inserts her own opinions and words as if they are facts. It is so dishonest that it is unbelievable!

Liquid,Look at the employers track record. Look at the NY link. He is doing the same thing at other locations. Read the history of this guy in the initial post! Look at the rate of Guatemalans vs other immigrants. 75% from Guatemala. Compare that to the overall Guatemalan immigrants in the US. 1% vs 75% .. mere coincidence? Come on! This employer is perhaps the most heinous in history! Look at his record. Look at the links and videos I provided.

Why are you protecting him? Unbelievable!!

Meanwhile, the Guatemalans are sent to these heinous detention centers and you do not have one ounce of sympathy! Shameful!!

I'm not protecting him at all, I agree that he should be fines and jailed, however, as a Corporation he is protected as the Pres. or the V. Pres. The CEO's are not the ones who do the hiring, it is the Human Resources Department. Its called Corporate Protection, you can thank Bill Clinton for signing the law in '95.

"Illegal Aliens" group themselves into enclaves, the Guatemalans were a networked enclave like I showed earlier, one gets a job, tells another, and so on.

So you admit it is just your assumption, since there is a high percentage of Guatemalans located here that you assumed they were "imported" from Guatemala by the company. (shaking head)

You read to much into fact and make up your own as you go. Learn the Corporate laws and hierarchy before assuming anything.

Liquid, As usual, you are not reading the posts, the history of the company, the urls and videos provided. You make up your mind and stick to your own OPINION.

I was hoping a little more from you this time Liquid. This employer is a real Bad Guy!!

I disagree about the Guatemalans. The majority are from Guatemala. There is a reason. Obviously you are not studying the recruiting policies for illegal immigrants. I recall a while back Lupita and others talked about the HR recruiters in Latin countries. Obviously some type of recruiting happened in Guatemala. Additionally, the articles themselves detail the lengths those in the company went to in providing the illegal workers various types of documentation.

I have read the posts and the history of the corporation. Again, you blame me, when all I have suggested is that the laws are to blame. Semantics Dee, Semantics. Understand Corporation Protection Laws, you might then understand what I am saying.

Personally I am sick and tired of hearing you left wing,left coast whiners blame the GOP for everything that has ever gone wrong in America.I say jail and deport all illegal aliens no matter what their family status is.It does not matter if their family is US citizens,if they are illegal........deport them........period.It's not Americas fault that Mexico and other South American countries economies are crap and therefore it is not our place to take in and legalize every one that can sneak over our borders.I do not agree that the simple fact that they are human beings gives illegal aliens our inalienable rights regarding sneaking in and living in America.Stop blaming the GOP for mistreating aliens.The GOP wants to stop aliens from coming here and living here illegally and I for one support their efforts. As for our present Iraq delima, the GOP did not start this war.......the dam Arabs did, and they deserve every bullet our troops shoot at them. Would you rather fight them in our streets or in Iraq? Yes we have lost thousands of our finest soldiers, but we have have killed many,many thousands of (Arab)crazied terrorist, any one of which might have otherwise come over here and blown us up.Remeber 9/11 ?

thank GOD that we don't have ppl like this last anonymous running this country (wait a min, we do), well thank GOD we only have a few more months of these crazy right wingers in office, Personally I am sick and tired of hearing about you rightwing redstater wheeners blame EVERYONE else about your own personal issues rather than looking in the mirror

Im an American that happens to be Hispanic. And I can tell you first hand, not all of us support illegal immigration. My family and I recognize the damage caused by the lack of enforcement of the laws. Illegal immigration creates more poverty among Hispanics. No one should be here illegally, whether they happen to be from my same cultural background or not.

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A PRO Forum where people, both PRO and ANTI, can discuss American Immigration Issues and Political Issues civilly, freely and safely thereby reducing the hate, anger and misunderstandings currently inherent in most of these discussions.

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This Blog promotes the discussion of opinions of the Blog Owner and commenters who wish to participate in the discussion about Immigration Issues and Political Issues.

Many blog entries contain details from actual news articles and urls are included for reader reference.

In some instances, individuals referenced in the blog are defendants who may be coming to trial or whose trial is in progress. All defendants are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

It should be noted by all Blog Readers and this is to officially confirm that for all articles on this blog where court cases have not been ruled upon, the word ALLEGED is inserted prior to the defendants name/crime.

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About Me

Hello. My name is Dee. I live in Texas. I am an American. My ethnicity is Hispanic. Many would call me Mexican or Mexican American. Some call me a female, PRO-Immigration Reform - Ann Coulter.
My parents, their parents and theirs were all born in the USA.
My husband and I have been happily married for over 20 years. My husband is a big, Irish-American. We have two grown sons. We are happy and my family is doing well. I have been employed as a mid level manager at a very large, well known corporation for over 25 years, now recently retired.
In May, 2006, after the Immigration Marches, I started seeing the cable news channels talking very negatively about illegal immigration. I found many internet sites were talking negatively about legal and illegal immigration issues as well.
Since I do research on the job, I started conducting Immigration research on the web. I joined several Immigration websites and I researched others. I´ve learned so much about Immigration issues over the last year.
What you don´t see on the internet is the Mexican American perspective.
I am here to share my views with you.